Journey of Fate
by tillerian
Summary: Celeste is a young unicorn who lives in an isolated village. But a mysterious pony turns her into an alicorn and urges her to save Equestria. After meeting two ponies named Spring Adventure and Lucky Break, they team up with Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia to embark on a jouney to save Equestria and prevent a grim future; and to find out why she became an alicorn.
1. Another Morning

"_Why are you doing this?"_

"_Because I have to!"_

"_You cannot stop this, you are about to die."_

"_It's my duty. I will see it through to the end."  
_

"_You do not understand. This has to happen."_

"_I refuse to believe that! I must… I WILL save Equestria!"_

* * *

Chapter 1: Another Morning

It was a small, darkly lit bedroom. The bed was tucked away in the farthest corner of the door. A large lump rustled underneath the bed sheets, creating soft snoring within and a pink messy mane sprouted from the top of the sheets.

The door from across the room creaked open as the light from outside shined inside the room and an old mare trotted inside. She was a purple Earth Pony with a short, round-cut grey mane with a short fluffy tail. She poked the rolling lump in the bed with her hoof and said in her jolly voice, "Celeste. Come on, you silly filly, it's time to get up."

The bump in the bed only replied with a mumble and rolled away from the old pony. She simply smirked and quietly trotted over to the window beside the bed. "Rise and… SHINE!" she suddenly ripped the curtains open and the sun illuminated the room. The pink maned unicorn jerked out from under the sheets and shouted, "AGH! I'm up! I'm up!"

The old mare giggled as the pearl-white coated unicorn rubbed her purple eyes awake. "C'mon, grandma, just a little longer, please…"

"You stayed up all night looking at the stars again, didn't you?" the grandmother said in a mock-scolding tone.

The unicorn named Celeste only responded by grimacing at the wall in front of her, as if to decide either to try to stay awake or fall backwards on her pillow. No, no… her grandmother wouldn't allow it, not while she's standing right there. So, she used her magic to lift the sheets up and hop out of bed, landing on the wooden floor with a "clop". Celeste stretched out her front legs and yawned, her pink tail, which was equally messy as her mane, curled up as she did so. She was a young mare who was no older than her late teens. Her cutie mark was that of five blue stars of various sizes that connected to each other with a line.

Her now-illuminated room was very simple by design, not many decorations and no wardrobe to be seen. The only thing to really stand out was the telescope that leaned in the corner opposite of the bed and door. The time of day was in the late morning as the sun was already way ahead of Celeste apparently. Her grandmother turned to walk out the door, "It's a beautiful day outside, why don't you go outside and play with somepony?"

"Aw, grandma, I don't wanna play with old ponies. I wanna go explore." Celeste said with a grudge. Really, she wanted to go back to bed, but that wasn't going to happen.

"So, long as you do something, dear. You're too young to be spending your days in bed. Wait until you're as old as I am and then we'll see." Her grandmother taunted her.

* * *

Celeste and her grandmother trotted outside of her home; the former didn't even bother to make herself presentable. Not that that mattered much as she wasn't expecting to do much social work. Her house was small and farther away from the small village that she resided in. It was a simple village isolated from the rest of Equestria, tucked away inside of a forest on a small mountainside. The denizens of the village were much older than Celeste ranging from married adults to old ponies who have had their time in this world. Very few foals existed in the town; they were much younger than Celeste who stuck to their own little group, shunning any grown-ups from interfering with their shenanigans, which, most of the time, included Celeste.

Celeste's grandmother eventually split off from Celeste to chat with an acquaintance while Celeste continued on her way. The old stallion smiled as the purple old pony very slowly walked over to greet her.

"Well, hello there, young lady, fine mornin' ain't it?" the old pony teased.

The grandmother laughed dismissively at the comment and said "I finally got her up, this morning. For her to be up this early means a lucky day for us."

"Honestly, you spoil the poor girl."

"Yes, yes, but I try not to be too hard on her. After all, she doesn't have anypony around her age to be her friend. Let's face it, she's too young to be in this village." The grandmother stated as she watched Celeste tread in between the trees that surrounded the village.

"But she don't have a choice, don't she? After all…"

"Yes," She interrupted as her tone shifted to a much more serious one. "I try not to bring it up. It makes her much happier not trying to remember."

* * *

The woods were quiet, the only sounds that could be heard was the birds chirping happily in the branches, the various insects buzzing through the flowers, and Celeste's hoofsteps rustling through the grass on the ground. The brief exercise through the woods woke her up a lot more and she had much more bounce in her step. She rummaged through the familiar woods for hours to find something new, but not much luck: Same trees, same forest, same Celeste. It was as if time had frozen in these woods and never ticked forward for a single second.

She looked up at the friendly birds above and smiled, as if she had unconsciously made friends of them over the many times she ventured through these woods. She began humming to the bird and quickened her pace. As time moved on, her humming turned to slight singing, not good singing, mind you, but it eventually turned into an excitable, nonsensical beat, as she began beat boxing and rhythmic beating of the trees like drums. No pony was around to see her do this, so she was safe and secure in getting lost in her own little world, pretending she was putting on a show for the forest as she traveled through it. But, she was abruptly yanked back into reality when a squirrel jumped off a small branch and the branch smacked her in the face. After a brief survey of the area, she sheepishly scampered away, as if someone heard her.

Finally she reached a clearing in the woods: A large cliff overlooking the vast landscape. From that viewpoint, a good chunk of Equestria was visible. Various clusters of buildings scattered about the land with Canterlot Castle looming above all of them, like an eagle watching over her young.

Celeste took a very deep breath and shouted "GOOD MORNING, EQUESTRIA!" as her voice echoed through the land, there was no answer and Equestria kept going about its business as if she didn't exist. The wind blew through her main as she looked down upon the buildings. A strong feeling of longing came to her, a desire to visit it, all of it; to be a part of whatever goes on around there. Not just what she could see, but beyond what she could see. Maybe there were ponies out there just like her, not ponies who are too old or young for her, but ponies who could relate to her. She closed her eyes and imagined being down there interacting with all the ponies, making friends, having adventured in places she wasn't familiar with. She grew weary of the dull and tired life of her home village.

Celeste took one last glance at the world before her before turning away to explore more of the woods. But a small sound stopped her in her tracks, a sound like a spark, a flicker. She quickly turned around and saw a small light on the edge of the cliff. The light flickered and sparked more and more in mere seconds. Curious, she slowly creeped closer to the event that was unfolding before her, but immediately stepped back when the flickered turned into a large light that illuminated everything, even in the clear daytime.

From the light emerged an alicorn, a pony with both a horn and wings. She was much taller than a regular pony. She was quite regal in her appearance with a white coat and a beautiful colored mane and tail of blues and pinks that floured magically in the air. Celeste was awestricken by the display and froze completely in place. The alicorn clumsily tried to keep herself afloat by flapping her wings, but gravity proved better as she plummeted down and grabbed the edge of the cliff. Celeste, reacting on instincts, rushed over to rescue the mysterious pony. Grabbing her slender hoof, Celeste pulled the alicorn upon the cliff to safety. Upon closer inspection, the alicorn was badly injured. Her body was broken, scared, bruised, and burned. Her right eye was bloodied and disfigured. She was not quite as graceful as seen clearly. Celeste looked at the alicorn's cutie mark and saw that it was an image of a sun.

"Are you okay?!" Celeste said with concern, "Who are you?!"

The alicorn responded by barely trying to pick herself up, but Celeste stopped her, seeing that she was in no condition to even stand. The alicorn opened her eyes, and looked upon Celeste's face.

"Y-you…" the alicorn weakly said. Her voice was soft and gentle. Celeste curiosity was peaked now that the pony began to speak. "Please… you must… you must listen to me. Equestria…" She stopped in pain.

"What about Equestria?" Celeste asked trying to calm the pony down.

"There… there isn't much time. Equestria is in great danger. What… what is your name?"

"Uh… my name? It's Celeste, ma'am." Celeste responded.

"Celeste… you must save Equestria… You… are our last hope."

"Me? Wait, why me? What am I doing?" Celeste was very confused.

"No time to explain. I must… give you my powers. Use them to save Equestria…" The alicorn's horn began to glow and illuminated light upon Celeste.

"What?! What's happening?!" Celeste began to levitate into the air and began to glow. She felt a surge of power flowing through her body. It was so much for her to handle that she began to black out. The last thing she heard was an echo of the alicorn's words in her head, "Celeste... you must save Equestria… You… are our last hope."

Celeste opened her eyes; she laid flat on the ground. She began to bring her wits back to her. The alicorn was nowhere to be seen. Was that a dream? Did she fall asleep all the sudden? She looked out to Equestria and saw the sun was beginning to set. She picked herself up and began to stretch, but in doing so, she noticed something odd, like an extra part was stretching. She looked back and saw two extra, feathery appendages had sprouted from her back. This naturally surprised her to cause her to shout.

"Wings?! How- what-" she confusedly exclaimed as she grabbed one of them to inspect it. "Am I a pegasus all the sudden?!" She felt around her forehead and found her horn still intact, "Nope, still there. Wait! Am I both?! What's going on?!"

As she was inspecting her wings, she noticed something odd about her cutie mark. When she inspected it, she noticed it had changed into the sun cutie-mark that the alicorn had. This caused her to shout once more.

"Okay, okay. Don't panic! Everything is fine!" she talked to herself hysterically, "They're just wings and a new cutie mark, that's all. You're still you, Celeste! You're still you! Right?"

Unsure about that statement, she rushed to the closest body of water she could find and looked at her reflection: same messy pink mane with pearl-white coat, just with wings now.

"What happened to me?" then a grim realization struck her like lightning, "How am I going to explain this to grandma? Ooohhhh, boy this is bad."

She took a few deep breaths to think about what to do. Realizing a plan, she trotted back home.

* * *

Celeste intentionally took alternate routes to avoid any of the village citizens. When she made it back home, she quietly slipped through the door, hoping her grandmother wouldn't notice. Low-and-behold, there she was standing in front of the stove cooking dinner. Thinking quickly, Celeste used her magic to yank a cloak from the closet and cover her wings before her grandmother could turn around.

"Oh! Home early are you? Just in time for supper! Why don't you have a seat? I'm almost done!" Her grandmother smiled.

Celeste smiled sheepishly and said, "I… uh… got to go to bed, grandma!"

"To bed? Why it's a little early." Her grandmother was shocked to hearing this news. "At least stay for dinner."

"IIIII'm not hungry." Celeste said awkwardly.

"Celeste, are you feeling alright? Are you sick?" Her grandmother said in a concerned tone.

Celeste's face turned to an offended look "What? I'm not-" then suddenly realizing what had just been said, quickly turns to a smile, "Er… yes! I am sick! I don't feel too good…" she lets out a few false coughs, "I'll just turn in early today." She casually tried to trot over to her room.

"Would you like some medicine, dear?" her grandmother asked.

"No! No! I just need some rest! I'll be fine. Just some good old fashioned rest!" Celeste exclaimed and let out a few more coughs before slamming the door behind her.

The old mare shook her head and muttered to herself. "She is quite a bizzare child…"

Celeste held her back to the door and listened outside to make sure her grandmother wasn't going to sneak inside. After hearing hoofsteps travel to the other bedroom, she sighed a breath of relief and took off the cloak.

"What am I going to do?" She asked herself while looking at her wings. Frustrated, she climbed on the bed and planted her face into the pillow using her magic to pull the covers over her. What a day.

She propped her chin on the pillow and sighed, "I'll figure it out tomorrow…" She yawned and her eyes go heavy. Maybe going to bed wasn't such a bad idea after all. She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.

To be continued…


	2. A Twist in Fate

Chapter 2: A Twist in Fate

Celeste woke up with a yawn. She looked at her back. Wings and cutie mark still there. She wasn't hallucinating. It didn't look like her grandmother tried to get her up this morning, again; probably because Celeste told her she was sick last evening. Good thing, too, maybe she can sneak out of the house without anyone noticing, but just in case, she put on her cloak, anyway. Celeste left the room and quickly ate some leftovers from the night before.

"Well, isn't this a shock! You're up by yourself!"

Celeste just about had a heart attack and jumped a good three feet in the air. Her purple grandmother trotted out of her bedroom with an amused face.

"G-Grandma?! Don't scare me like that!" Celeste said with a scowl.

"Are you feeling alright, dear? You acted rather strange last night." Her grandmothers tone shifted to a more concerned one.

"Um… a little. I think I might need to exercise a bit… alone." Celeste fibbed.

"Don't overexert yourself, Celeste. You might end up feeling worse."

"Yes, I won't, Grandma! Thank you! Bye!" Celeste said in a rush as she started towards the door.

"Celeste, if there is anything you need from me let me know. You can tell me anything."

"Nothing's wrong, Grandma. I'm just… feeling under the weather. Need to clear my head!"

Without letting her Grandmother protest any further, she abruptly left the house and shut the door behind her.

* * *

Celeste trotted through the woods to clear her thoughts. She knew she was alone, no one ever traveled as deep as she does. Celeste tried to process what happened the day before as she trotted between the trees.

Suddenly, she heard rustling deeper in the woods like fellow hoofsteps. Celeste rushed over to investigate.

Bustling about the wood without aim or reason was an earth pony who seemed around the same age as Celeste. She had a lush, green coat and a short brown mane with an equally short tail, her eyes were a dark shade of green, and her cutie mark was a red compass. The mysterious earth pony looked over to Celeste with a weary glance. She had a dazed expression about her and could hardly keep her balance.

"Hey! Are you alright?" Celeste said rushing over to the pony.

The earth pony scanned Celeste over with her eyes with a tired expression, but seemed to make out what she was.

"What's with the get-up?" The pony finally asked pointing at Celeste's cape.

"Oh! Uh… I-it's nothing. Just… It's comfy!" Celeste said sheepishly trying to hide her wings under her cape.

The green pony paused for a moment and looked around trying to survey the area. Finally, she shook her head and mumbled to herself "Twilight… Yeah… that's right!" She quickly turned to Celeste and rushed up to her closely, "You! I need to find Twilight Sparkle! Do you know where she is?!"

"Huh? Twilight… Sparkle?" Celeste was confused with the unfamiliar name, "I'm afraid I don't even know who that is."

"Seriously? You know, Princess Twilight Sparkle? Purple? Loves books? She's an alicorn!" The green pony said frantically.

"Alicorn? What's… an alicorn?" Celeste was very confused by this pony's demands.

"You're joking, right? What kind of back-water place did I end up in?" The green pony sighed and said "You know how unicorns have horns and pegesi have wings? Well, alicorns have both! They're extremely rare and powerful!"

"Horns… and wings?" Celeste's wings quivered at the thought, was she an alicorn now? "I… I don't know anypony like that."

"Shoot…" The pony grumbled applying her hoof to her face, "This is gonna be tough…" She once again turned to Celeste, "What's your name, kid?"

"Uh… Celeste." She replied.

The green pony tipped her head with a smirk, "Celeste, eh? Weird name. Listen, could you get me to Ponyville?"

"Ponyville? I've never been there." Celeste said.

The pony turned away and said, "Oh… well, thanks for the help, then. I'll look for it myself." She stopped and sniffed the air. "Say, do you smell something burning?"

Celeste sniffed the air herself. Something was burning, and it was close by. Upon turning around, she saw an orange glow with a warmth coming from behind her, in the direction of the village!

"Oh, no! The village!" Celeste shouted as she rushed back. For whatever reason, the green pony followed suit.

* * *

As Celeste rushed back to the village and screeched to a halt as she saw all the ponies fleeing from the burning buildings. Most of the village folk seemed to be alright, including all of the foals, though they were terrified to the point of tears. The green pony came up behind Celeste. Celeste looked frantically through the panicking crowd to find her grandmother, but no results.

"Whoa! What happened?" The green pony said in shock.

A pegasus stallion flew above the two carrying a much older mare in his arms. "Celeste! Thank goodness you're alright! The village just sporadically burst into flames! Thankfully we got everypony out in time!"

"Where's my grandma?!" Celeste asked the Pegasus in panic.

"She isn't here? I couldn't find her! I hoped she managed to find her way out herself!"

Troubled by the news, Celeste ran into the flames to her home, the green pony shouting, "Celeste! Are you crazy!" But her protests were drowned out by the panicking crowds and the crackling of the fire.

Celeste tried to make her way through the searing hot flames to her house. By the time she reached it, it was engulf in flames.

"Grandma!" she called out, hoping to hear her voice from the house. No answer.

Using her magic, she cleared away the debris and jumped into the flame. Everything was on fire, like scorching hot claws rising from the room and grabbing the walls around her. Celeste kept calling her grandmother, no call answered her.

She heard a crack above her head and quickly looked up, only to see a piece of the ceiling falling before her. Acting quickly she jumped back just in time for it to miss, slightly burning her right cheek in the process. The pain hindered her for just a bit, when her will to find her grandmother overpowered the pain. She rushed into what was supposed to be her grandmother's bedroom only to find her grandmother's lifeless body underneath burning debris.

"Grandma!" She shouted as she rushed to aid her. She tried to pull her grandmother out, hoping to get an answer from her. "Grandma! Please! You have to get up! Please! Don't give up! Don't!" Her endless stream of panicked nonsense continued as the green pony burst in.

"Celeste!" The pony yelled, "What are you doing! We gotta get outta here!"

"I'm not leaving without my grandma!" Celeste yelled in panicked rage.

The green pony put her hoof on Celeste's grandmother to check her pulse, "Celeste. I'm sorry, it's too late. She's gone."

Unwilling to accept this, Celeste continued to pull her out and shouted, "No! She's not! We gotta get her out of here!"

The pony yanked Celeste away from her grandmother and said, "You're gonna join her if you don't get out of here! Pull yourself together!"

"No! Not without here!" The mad unicorn screamed in a fit of tear filled rage.

"Let's go!" The green pony pulled a frantically struggling Celeste away. Celeste screamed and shouted at the top of her lungs as she witness more debris landing on what remains of her grandmother and incinerating her.

"Grandma!" Celeste gave one last shout as tears flooded down her face.

As soon as the pony dragged Celeste outside, Celeste managed to struggle free and started back toward the house, but the whole thing collapsed upon itself. Celeste stood there in shock for a brief moment and, in a fit of rage, darted up to the pony's face. "Why didn't you save her?! Why didn't you help?! Why?! Why?!" She shouted.

The green pony struck Celeste in the face with such a force, it knocked her down. "Will you get a hold of yourself? She was gone by the time you would've reached her!" She pointed at the giant pile of burning wood before them. "Look at that house! Any moment longer and you would've died!"

Both recovering from the blow she just took and fatigue from screaming and shouting, Celeste did not respond, only staring at the flaming mess that was once her home. Finally, she couldn't take it and broke down crying. Upon seeing this, the earth pony's expression shifted from anger to sympathy as she walked up to comfort the alicorn.

"Hey, c'mon, it's gonna be okay." She said in a soft voice. She looked into the alicorn's flooded, purple eyes and said, "Let's get you outta here. Everypony's probably worried about you."

Biting her lip, Celeste looked back at her home one last time, and was assisted back up by the pony and the two walked back to the group together.

* * *

The funeral that took place the next morning was a quick one; most of the ponies in the village just stopped by to pay their respects before beginning to rebuild their homes. Celeste stood in the back and watched as the coffin that held the disfigured remains of her grandmother slowly lowered into a perfectly rectangular hole, silently whimpering. The green pony walked up next to her, trying to find the words to say, but opting instead to remain silent. Celeste replayed her last moments with her grandmother in her mind over and over. How she blatantly rushed out the door, she didn't even say goodbye. How she longed to speak to her one last time and see her grandmother once more, but now she will never get the chance. When the coffin was finally fully inside the ground, Celeste turned back and walked to what was once her home.

Celeste dug around the charred wood that was once her room only to find her telescope surprisingly intact. After blowing the dust off, she lifted her cape and tucked it under her wing. The green pony trotted up behind her.

"Wow, you've got a lot of work ahead of you." She said kicking away some of the wood, "Where are you going to start rebuilding?"

"I'm not." Celeste said bluntly. She turned around and said, "You said you wanted to see somepony. I want to go with you."

"What? Celeste, you can't! You have to stay here and help everypony rebuild."

"They don't need me. Besides, I don't belong here. I never did." Celeste replied curtly, "Besides, there are some… things… I need answered." She hesitated to tell the pony her situation.

The green pony sighed and said, "Okay, fine! But I'm not baby-sitting you! You have to pull your own weight, got it!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Celeste replied with confidence.

"I'll give you some time to say goodbye."

"No need. We can just head out right now." Celeste said shaking her head.

"Suit yourself. But if you even start to be a bother, I'm sending you right home!"

"Okay! Let's go, then!"

The two left the burnt remains of the house and trotted off into the woods.

"By the way," Celeste said, "I never got your name."

"Oh! It's Spring Adventure. Sorry, for not telling you earlier."

Celeste smiled and said, "It's okay, Spring. I'm sure we're gonna have a great adventure! So, who are we seeing again?"

"Twilight Sparkle. She should be in Ponyville. You know where that is from here?"

Celeste frowned and said, "I'm… afraid not."

Spring lowered her head in dismay, "Well, this is going to be interesting…"

And so, the two journeyed through the forest. Celeste tried to get her mind off of the events that transpired and wondered about Twilight Sparkle. Who was she? Why does Spring want to meet her? And does she have the answers as to why Celeste became an Alicorn?

To be continued…


	3. Wandering Pegasus

Chapter 3: Wandering Pegasus

Celeste and Spring Adventure wandered through the unfamiliar woods. As they pressed on, the forest grew darker and murkier. The pleasant chirps of the friendly birds were now replaced by unpleasant cackling of hostile creatures. A cold chill ran down Celeste's spine. If she had any wish to turn back, it was too late; the only way was forward. Spring trotted ahead to scout out for danger.

"So, where are we, now?" Celeste asked.

Spring turned her head around and replied, "I thought you of all ponies should know. You told me you wandered around the forest all the time."

"Yeah, but I've never gone this deep. I haven't left the village in so many years." Celeste replied in rebuttal, brushing some dirt off her cloak.

Spring lowered her head in dismay and let out an aggravated sigh, "This will be interesting." She said facetiously. She perked her head back up and scanned her surroundings, "If I'm right… this has to be the Everfree Forest. That means Ponyville is nearby."

"Wait, if you know your way around, how come we're lost?" Celeste asked.

"Well, I'm not from around here." Spring replied.

"Then, how do you know how close Ponyville is?"

"I just… do. Let's not talk about where I'm from."

Celeste tried to protest, but a sharp glance from Spring prevented her from doing so.

Out of nowhere, they heard a yell echo through the trees. Without discussion, they dashed over to the source as fast as they could.

* * *

Like the wind, a violet pegasus dashed through the woods dodging trees and bushes in the way. He looked behind him in fear as if he was flying away from something big. In his moment of distraction, he crashed into an ill-placed trunk and fell to the ground unconscious. Celeste and Spring were not far away from him and rushed to his aid.

"Look! A pegasus!" Spring called out.

Upon closer inspection, the violet pegasus had curly, dirty blonde hair and a paper-boy cap. His forehead had been darkened due to his collision with the tree.

"What was he running away from?" Celeste wondered.

Not far behind them was a loud thumping sound that made the ground tremble. Following the sound was similar sound only louder; the sounds continued getting louder by each time. The two ponies turned around, being greeted by a large, blue, furry leg. Looking up, they saw a giant, blue transparent bear staring down at them, looking rather aggravated.

"That is a big bear." Celeste said bluntly.

"Celeste. Run. Now." Spring said sternly while tossing the unconscious pegasus on her back.

The bear roared, startling the two ponies off into a dash. Deeper through the Everfree Forest the fled, the bear giving chase, parting the trees as it went.

"What is that thing?!" Celeste asked frantically.

"I'm pretty sure that's an Ursa Major! Very big! Very mean! Just run as fast as you can!" Spring answered dodging trees as she ran.

The two fleeing ponies screeched to a halt as they were hindered with a large rock wall. Turning around, they saw that the Ursa Major had already caught up to them, gritting its teeth in anger.

"Uh… this could be a problem." Spring muttered.

The Ursa let out another roar, startling Celeste to pop her wings out from underneath her cape, dropping the telescope. Spring's eyes shifted to the wings that seemed to have spontaneously sprouted from her back. Seeing an opportunity, Spring shouted "Celeste! Use your magic!"

Confused, Celeste said "Huh?! But I don't-"

"Just shut up and do it!" Spring interrupted.

Immediately responding to Spring's sharp tone, Celeste concentrated magical energy into her horn. As the bear creeped closer to her, she unleashed all her magical energy into a concentrated beam that launched itself into the Ursa, but proved ineffective. Celeste froze in shock at the results, (Or lack thereof). Growling at the stunned Alicorn, the Ursa smacked Celeste into the stone wall. Peeling off of it and landing in front of Spring, a dazed Celeste remarked, "I think that just made it madder…"

"What was that?! You call that an earth-shattering alicorn spell?!" Spring yelled.

"Magic was never really my strong point." Celeste sheepishly replied after recovering from the punishment she just took.

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Spring said in dismay.

The Ursa let out a loud roar in the ponies faces. Spring looked up at it with a determined look and mumbled, "Looks like I don't have a choice…" she spoke up to Celeste in a serious tone, "Celeste, watch over the pegasus and stay back."

The Ursa growled once more towards the ponies, but Spring was unhindered, giving a sharp glare at the Ursa. Then, out of nowhere, she jumped in the air away from the Ursa and bounced off the rock wall. Descending down toward the transparent bear, she struck it hard in the face with such a blow that it knocked the Ursa flat on its side, dazed and confused. Immediately afterwards, Spring picked up the Ursa over her head and tossed it through the trees. The defeated bear soared in the sky for miles before finally landing with a faraway thud. Celeste rubbed her eyes trying to contemplate what had just transpired. Taking a deep breath, Spring turned around to check on the two ponies.

"Wh… what was that?!" Celeste asked, "I've never EVER seen anypony that strong before!"

"I've always been this strong." Spring replied, "Besides, where I'm from, you gotta be tough to survive."

The pegasus mumbled and began to open his eyes.

"Hey! He's coming to!" Celeste remarked rushing over to the pegasus, "Hey! Are you okay?"

The pegasus finally opened his eyes all the way, and the first thing he saw was Celeste. He stared into her eyes for a few seconds and said in a very low tone "Hello, there…"

"We found you unconscious in the woods with an Ursa Major comin' after you." Spring spoke up, "What did you do to get that thing chasing you?"

"Beat's me." The pegasus replied in a laid back tone, "I guess it just didn't like me."

"So, was it your scream we heard earlier?" Celeste asked.

"Scream? Er… maybe?" the pegasus said hesitantly, "May have been somepony else."

"Somepony else? You're the only pony here besides us!" Spring remarked.

The pegasus adjusted his hat and tried to defend himself, "Okay, maybe it was me. But… I was… er… luring it away from a nearby town, ya know?"

"Great job, you were going in the direction of a village that's in the middle of repairs!" Spring said in an aggravated tone.

"Did I? Huh… didn't know there was one out here in the boondocks." The pegasus replied. "But, whatever, we won the day, am I right?"

"We?" Spring replied, "No, no, no… _I_ got rid of it. _You_ were unconscious the whole time!"

"Well, then I guess you deserve a medal." The pegasus said facetiously before turning to Celeste changing his tone to a more pleasant one, "By the way, they call me Lucky Break. What's your name?"

"Oh… it's… Celeste." Celeste replied shyly.

"Celeste? I like it a lot. Mysterious." He said with a smirk.

"And I'm Spring Adventure." Spring said, abruptly popping up between the two and shoving Lucky away.

"Pleasure to meet you." Lucky said once again shifting his tone to a more aggravated one.

"By the way…" Spring snapped over to Celeste and sternly said, "Why didn't you tell me you were an alicorn?!"

"Oh… I… uh…" Celeste tried to explain since she had been put on the spot. Lucky, noticing her wings, said silently, "Well, what'd ya know, she is an alicorn."

"You what? You think you were gonna hide it from me this whole time?!" Spring shouted, "Geez! You're not even good at magic! You are the WORST alicorn I have EVER heard of!"

Lucky jumped in between the two and separated them, "Hey, now, ladies, let's not start a fight. I'm sure she's got good reasons."

"I'm sorry, Spring. I didn't mean to offend you, honest!" Celeste said in a sorrowful tone.

Realizing she's being pushy, Spring pulled back and sighed. "Sorry, he's right, I shouldn't be mad at you. Come on, let's get going."

Relieved at the defused situation, Celeste picked up her telescope and followed Spring. "Do you think we'll ever make it to Ponyville?" She asked.

"I don't know, we'll find it eventually." Spring said seemingly calmed down.

"Did you say Ponyville?" Lucky perked up and flew up in front of them, "Say, if you ladies are tryin' to get to Ponyville, I can help."

"Really?" Spring said skeptically.

"Sure, it's to the west of here. If Miss High-and-Mighty here will let me, I'll take you there myself." Lucky said.

"Really?! You will?" Celeste said with optimism.

"I don't know, Celeste. You think we can trust him?" Spring remarked with pessimism.

"Hey, you girls just saved my lives, it's the least I could do for ya." Lucky said with a smile.

"C'mon, Spring. He doesn't seem like a bad guy. I think we can trust him!" Celeste said with a cheery tone.

"Fine. Take us to Ponyville." Spring surrendered.

"As you command, your Highness." Lucky said giving a sarcastic bow.

"The name's Spring, pal!" Spring snapped.

The pegasus gave a shrug and flew off into the woods with Celeste and Spring following suit.

* * *

The sun sank behind the trees and the patches sky above the thick branches turned an orange hue. Lucky lazily drifted in the air ahead of Celeste and Spring as the latter chattered among themselves.

"So, lemme get this straight," Spring said, "Some weird lookin' pony just appears outta nowhere, turns you into an alicorn, and disappears."

"That's right." Celeste nodded with a smile.

Spring returned the smile and said, "I believe you, Celeste! As weird as it is."

"I don't." Lucky said reclining in the air, flying backwards.

"Oh, really? And what makes you the expert on alicorns?" Spring said in an annoyed tone.

"Trust me, I've been all over Equestria, and I ain't seen nothin' that makes me believe in a story like that. 'Sides, aren't alicorns supposed to be rare? I only know about two or three." Lucky replied with a smirk.

"Really? Like who?" Celeste tilted her head in curiosity.

"What, you don't know about them? Sad." Lucky plopped down to the ground and raised his hoof in front of him, "Well, here we are!"

The place he led them to was a small clearing in the forest, with the auburn sky clear overhead. There was a single tent big enough for one or two tucked away to the side and a circle of stones with blackened sticks stacked inside. Celeste walked inside the clearing and scanned the area.

"Wow! Ponyville is really small!" Celeste remarked.

"This isn't Ponyville, genius, it's a campsite." A disgruntled Spring replied trotting passed her. "What gives, Lucky? I thought you were taking us to Ponyville!"

"I am." Lucky calmly replied straightening up the tent, "This is just a little rest stop I made. We'll get to Ponyville tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?! We need to get there now!" Spring said in a mix of aggression and urgency.

"Not happenin'." Lucky replied, retaining his calm demeanor before turning around to continue fixing the tent, "In case you haven't noticed, it's getting late, and we don't wanna be out in the Everfree Forest at night. All the meaner creatures tend to come out and play at night. So, we'll be resting here until the morning. Don't worry, you ladies got the tent. I'll find a cloud to sleep on."

"Whatever, we can take 'em! You guys saw how strong I am!" Spring said with an arrogant huff.

"Aw, c'mon, Spring," Celeste protested, "We've been walking for hours and my hooves are killing me!"

Spring grunted and said "Then, just fly! You have wings!"

"But, I don't know how to…" Celeste replied sheepishly.

"Hold on, you're not good at magic _and_ you don't know how to fly?" Spring laughed tauntingly, "Wow, for an alicorn, you're pretty pathetic."

Celeste looked away in embarrassment as Lucky approached Spring with a slightly annoyed stance.

"Look, even if you are tough, it's still not a good idea to wander around alone. Everfree Forest gets really dark at night and you'd be lost in an instant." Lucky turned around to toss some sticks into the circle of stones while continuing to speak, "Twinkle Sprinkle, or whatever her name is, ain't gonna blow up. She'll still be there in Ponyville, I'm sure of it."

With an aggravated attitude, Spring sat down on the ground with a thump and grumbled, "Her name is Twilight Sparkle…"

"Hey, Celeste, you know how to start a fire?" Lucky said turning to Celeste, who had trotted up to the stone circle. She replied with a nod and with a flash of her horn, a small spark appeared in the kindling and burst aflame. Pleased, Lucky sat down and rubbed his hooves in front of the fire, shooting a glance at Spring, who was lying down tapping her hoof in the dirt. "Hey, is Grumpy gonna be okay?"

"Eh… I don't know." Celeste replied in dismay, "I just met her yesterday."

"Ah, I'm sure she'll be fine." Lucky said dismissively.

* * *

Eventually, the sky above turned a darker color and stars dotted the sky; Celeste and Spring retired inside the tent while Lucky plucked a cloud from above to lie down on. As she slept underneath the blanket, Celeste twisted and turned violently in her sleep.

_In her dream, she remembered her house burning down. She saw herself dash inside in a fit of worry. She heard herself call out for her grandmother with no avail. Suddenly, a piece of burning wood broke off from the ceiling and fell on top of her. As she struggled to get free, she yelled in pain as the wood burned her, giving one last blood-curling shriek before the entire house collapsed upon her. Then, her dream shifted to her grandmother's funeral, but this time, there were two coffins being lowered into the ground. Her dream shifted once again Spring and a few other ponies rushing towards a dark figure, only to be cast down immediately. As the dark figured cackled an insane, high-pitched laugh, a ball of energy exploded from it. A look of fear shot across Spring's face as she watched her companions get vaporized by the explosion, uttering "I… failed…" before being vaporized herself. The explosion expanded, consuming all of Equestria._

Shocked, Celeste darted upright, sweating and breathing heavily. She looked around the tent and saw Spring sleeping soundly, snoring loudly. She glanced over to her telescope which laid flat beside her, picking it up and trotting outside, accidentally waking Spring in the process. Standing in the middle of the clearing, she set up her telescope and pointed it at the sky above. She peered through the telescope looking at the stars that scattered the sky above. She didn't notice Spring poking her head out of the tent, rubbing her eyes. She trotted up to the white alicorn and asked, "Celeste… what are you doing up so late?"

Without looking away from the stars, Celeste replied, "I can't sleep, so I'm looking at the stars instead."

"Why?" Spring tilted her head curiously.

"I don't know." Celeste explained turning the telescope to look at a different angle, "Whenever I get sad or stressed, I just look up into the stars, and it just calms me down."

"Still thinkin' about your grandma, huh?" Spring replied sympathetically.

Celeste lifted her head from the telescope and rested her hooves on top of it. "Yeah…"

"You were both close, weren't you?" Spring assumed trotting closer to her.

"She was the only pony I ever talked to, pretty much. All the other ponies in my village were either too old or too young. I haven't talked to anypony around my age in years." Celeste said looking up at the stars.

"Don't you have any other family, like parents or something?" Spring said. Celeste didn't answer, only looked down to the ground with a frown. Spring decided to change the subject, "So, why stargazing? It doesn't seem all that exciting."

"I like to find constellations and make stories about them." Celeste replied finally looking at Spring with a smile.

"Constellations?" Spring said curiously.

"You haven't heard about constellations?" Celeste asked quizzically setting her hooves on the ground, "You know, it's like making pictures in the sky, like… uh… connecting the dots, only with the starts. You've never heard of that?"

"Oh! That!" Spring replied laughing sheepishly, "Yeah, I know about that it's just… uh… I never knew anypony that did that!"

Lucky, reclining on a cloud floating overhead, let out a sharp laugh and said, "What rock did you crawl out from under?"

"I don't think you were involved with this conversation!" Spring snapped.

"Hey, I heard your entire exchange; I just didn't say anything until now." Lucky said without moving.

"Well, mind your own business, will ya!" Spring yelled.

Lucky only responded by rolling over in his cloud out of sight from the two mares, and Celeste rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smile. Spring sighed and turned to Celeste placing a hoof on her shoulder, calmly saying, "We should get some sleep."

"Actually, I'd like to stay out here and keep stargazing." Celeste replied.

Spring smiled and said, "Alright, but don't stay up too late, okay?" She started toward the tent, but quickly turned around and said, "Hey, Celeste, sorry about making fun of you… about you not being good at magic or flying. I really am."

Celeste responded with an innocent smile before turning to her telescope. Spring yawned and ducked inside of the tent. Celeste adjusted her telescope and gazed in the sky above. But it was more than stars she was looking for…

To be continued…


	4. Ponyville At Last

Chapter 4: Ponyville At Last

On a hilltop on the far edges of Equestria, a Diamond Dog watched over the horizon. The Diamond Dog was very large and muscular with a red cloak furling in the wind behind him. His left eye was whitened with a long thin scar striding across it; he was a figure that had seen many fights. In his hand, he twiddled around a small, purple orb, which he caressed with his claws. He hunched over his bulky legs and sneered at the landscape.

Behind him were three figures that watched him. The first was a Minotaur, almost as large as he was; piercings and tattoos scattered all over his body. His long black hair flapped in the wind as he stroked his short pointed beard that hung below his mandible. The second was a unicorn mare, a grey coat and a long purple main that hung to one side and rested on her shoulder, and sharp green eyes piercing through the cloaked Dog and to the land below. Her cutie mark was five purple crystals that formed a star shape. The third and final figure was a Griffin, covered head to toe in a shroud, a cowl covering his entire head.

"Sir," the unicorn said, "Equestria is vulnerable. We've finished gathering intelligence and we are ready to strike."

Without turning, the Diamond Dog replied in a low, gruff, yet dignified voice, "Good. Begin the invasion immediately. Equestria will be ours, again." The three responded differently, the Minotaur pounding his fists in excitement, the unicorn bowing down in great respect, and the Griffin simply giving a slight nod before going their separate ways, leaving the Diamond Dog alone, peering into the orb that was glowing with a dark aura, "After all these years… the ponies will fall…"

* * *

"We finally made it!" Spring shouted with glee, the other two standing beside her.

"Told ya, we'd make it, didn't I?" Lucky said with a smirk.

Indeed, the three ponies have finally made it to Ponyville. Buildings were scattered around every corner with ponies of all kinds walking around going about their business, chatting with each other. The three ponies seemed to blend in to the crowds with none of them paying attention to them.

"Geez! There's a lot of ponies here! And the buildings are huge!" Spring remarked.

Celeste and Lucky both looked at the amazed Earth pony with quizzical looks. "It's… okay, I guess. It ain't that big." Lucky said.

"Yeah, I've been in a tiny village for years and even I know this town isn't all that impressive." Celeste added.

"Oh… er…" Spring blushed in embarrassment and quickly changed the subject, "So… uh… Shouldn't we find Twilight?"

"I thought you knew where she would be." Celeste muttered.

"Don't worry, I know somepony that'll help us out." Lucky said with a wink, "Her house ain't far from here."

"Well, if you know somepony who could help, let's get movin'!" Spring said.

* * *

As Celeste and Spring followed Lucky, the buildings and ponies became more scattered and smaller. Trees began to replace the buildings and woodland animals began to replace the ponies. Finally, tucked away inside a small meadow, was a little hut where all the animals gathered. Many of the creatures gathered around the three new visitors with curiosity and excitement. Spring tried to shoo them all away in disgust while Celeste looked at the animals in adoration.

"Ick!" Spring said in disgust, "What is this, a house or a zoo?"

"Aww, they're so adorable!" Celeste exclaimed as she patted a squirrel on the head.

"This friend of yours really likes animals, Lucky." Spring said in annoyance.

"Ha! You have no idea." Lucky remarked casually wading through the army of critters.

Upon reaching the doorstep, a white bunny was napping on the tiny porch. He perked up upon their approach and darted inside. Lucky trotted up to the door and knocked on it. A very soft "Who is it?" came from the other side almost immediately after.

"An old friend comin' to visit." Lucky answered.

It wasn't a few seconds when the door cracked open and a blue eye peered through, below them through the crack. Lucky smiled and said, "Hey, Fluttershy! Remember me?"

Almost immediately, the door opened wide, revealing a yellow pegasus behind it. She had a long pink main that covered almost half her face. Her equally long tail dragged on the ground behind her. She was hunched over and looking up at them with a nervous frown. The white bunny from before was perched upon her back. Celeste looked at the shy pony quizzically.

"It's me! Lucky Break? Remember? You helped me about a year ago?" Lucky said trying to refresh her memory.

The white bunny rolled his eyes and began whispering in Fluttershy's ear. Her eyes widened in astonishment and looked back to Lucky with a smile, "Oh! That's right! I remember! How are you?"

"Doin' great!" Lucky said.

"Timid thing, ain't she?" Spring whispered to Celeste nudging her shoulder.

"So… uh… how's your wing?" Fluttershy asked.

"Better than ever!" Lucky said flapping his right wing spiritedly. "By the way, these two are my friends, Celeste and Spring." He pointed to the pony's behind him, "Ladies, this is Fluttershy. About a year ago, I had a nasty crash here in Ponyville. Fluttershy here nursed me back to health, she did!" he wrapped his hoof around Fluttershy's neck.

Fluttershy freed herself from Lucky's grasp and said, "So… uh… what brings you to Ponyville?"

"My two friends here are lookin' for Twilight Sparkle. I figured you could give us a hoof with that." Lucky replied.

Fluttershy perked up upon hearing the name "Twilight Sparkle". She raised her head with a smile, appearing more comfortable around them. "Oh, Twilight? Of course. I can see if she's not busy."

"You could?" Spring said with a smile, "It's really urgent! We need to see her right away!"

"I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, why don't you shop around Ponyville for a while?" Fluttershy suggested.

"Yeah! Wouldn't hurt to look around for a bit." Lucky said, "Twilight's practically within reach. We've got plenty of time to kill."

"Fine." Spring begrudgingly agreed, "But we shouldn't wait too long."

Celeste quietly slipped away from the group. She was curious to meet all the ponies in town. She had never been to another town before, she was quite excited.

* * *

Celeste returned to the more bustling area of Ponyville. It had been so long since she had seen so many ponies in one place. She got used to seeing the few faces that she could recognize instantaneously, but now, she's surrounded by ponies that she had never met. She eyed a stand that was manned by a large, red stallion. The stand had many red apples up for sale and they looked delicious. Celeste glanced at the apples with a hint of want, but lamented that she had no money. Then, she felt a small tug on her cloak followed by a small, "Excuse me, miss."

Celeste looked down to see a small, yellow filly with a red curly mane. She had a large pink bow in her hair, and she looked up at Celeste with the most adorable smile. Celeste returned the smile and said, "Hello, there."

"Y'all ain't from around here, are ya, miss?" The filly said in a thick southern accent, she pulled an apple from the apron she was wearing and said, "Here! Try this!"

"Oh, thank you, but I can't afford it." Celeste replied.

"Aw, don't worry 'bout it. This one's on us, seein' that yer new 'round these parts." The filly said with a bright, big grin.

Flattered by kind gesture, Celeste accepted the apple and said, "Thank you so much."

"Hey! If ya ever get the money, why don'tcha buy some more? They're as cheap as they are delicious!" The filly trotted off to the apple stand. Celeste watched as the stallion patted the young mare's head in approval.

Moving along her way, Celeste bit into the apple. It was quite well grown, and much sweeter than the apples from her home village. She decided to use her magic to carry the apple so she could wipe her mouth from the little bits that happened to stick to the sides.

When she finished her apple, she found herself standing in front of a round, purple building. It was rather tall and extravagant. Peaked with curiosity, Celeste entered inside. As she opened the door, the bell above rang and she walked inside. Various dresses were on display around the room, very well designed dresses, at that. Fashion was not her thing, but Celeste couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship. She ran her hoof along one of the dresses; even the material was clearly carefully selected, and designed in a way where it seemed comfortable. From behind her, she heard a voice clear her throat from behind. Startle, Celeste looked behind her and saw a white unicorn. She had a purple mane that was elegantly curled, with a tail equally so, with red spectacles perched on her nose.

"Oh, hello, there." Celeste said.

"Hello to you, dear." The unicorn replied with a smile. Her voice was just as elegant as her demeanor. She cleared her throat once more, "Welcome to Rarity's Fashion Boutique. I'm Rarity, may I help you with anything."

"Oh, I was just-"

Rarity interrupted Celeste mid-sentence and examined her all over. "Why look at you! No offense, but you don't seem very… erm… 'fashion forward'."

"E-Excuse me?" Celeste said with astonishment.

"Well… look at your cloak, dear. It's a mess! So, poorly patched together. Shame that you must be seen wearing it." Rarity remarked as she looked at Celeste's head, "And that mane! Goodness gracious! Those split ends! Those knots! When was the last time you had it groomed?"

"Uh…" Celeste couldn't answer in a mix of confusion and inability to recall the last grooming session, if there ever was one.

Rarity smiled and said, "Don't worry about it, darling. I'm a professional! I'll have you leave this store in style!"

"That's nice of you, but-"

"Ah-bu-bu-bu!" Rarity placed her hoof on Celeste's mouth to prevent her from further protest, "Let's see what would look good on you! Give you some flair!"

Rarity trotted over to a group of dresses that was nearby and started talking to herself. Celeste stood there and contemplated on whether to bail while she was busy. But, it would be kind of rude to, so she decided to remain and brace herself for the worst.

"Hm…" Rarity muttered, "Is the color blue in season? No… it's much too warm. How about this then? Do I really want to reveal that, yet? No… Equestria is not ready for its brilliance! Maybe something with a diamond theme! Oh, but where could I find amethysts on such short notice?"

"Uh… I kind of have to go, now." Celeste said sheepishly.

Rarity darted around and protested, "Oh, no! Please! Stay. I insist! I really need to find an ensemble that shouts… you! Could you tell me your favorite color?"

"Uh… well…" Celeste said embarrassingly.

Then, as if a ray of light had shown upon her, the bell above the door rang and Lucky and Spring trotted inside.

"There you are! We've been lookin' all over for you, Celeste!" Lucky said.

"Whoa! Look at all these dresses. Didn't know you were into this kind of stuff." Spring remarked, "Anyway, come on! Twilight Sparkle's ready to see us!"

"Yes! Twilight Sparkle!" Celeste said in reprieve, silently thanking her friends, "Sorry, Rarity, I have to go. It's very important."

"Oh… some other time then." Rarity smiled with a hint of disappointment in her voice, "If you're going to see Twilight, tell her I said hello! She's a very close friend of mine."

Celeste smiled sheepishly and darted out the door, Lucky and Spring following after her.

Upon leaving, she was greeted by a blue pegasus hovering in the air. Celeste immediately noticed her spiky, multi-colored mane and was fascinated by it.

"Who's this?" Celeste asked.

"This is Rainbow Dash. She was sent to escort us to Twilight Sparkle." Spring replied.

"What's up? You must be Celeste, right?" Rainbow Dash landed on the ground with a snarky grin.

"An escort? Just how important is Twilight?" Celeste asked.

"She shouldn't be that important. I mean, she just lives in a library in the middle of town." Lucky stated. Rainbow chuckled at that remark. "What? What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothin'. You'll see for yourself." Rainbow stated as she flew into the air, "C'mon. Twilight's waiting. She kinda has guests over."

Rainbow Dash led the three through town to Twilight's residence.

* * *

The blue pegasus led the three ponies to the center of town, where a large castle stood towering over the surrounding buildings. The three ponies were shocked by the castle's appearance.

"What the- I don't remember a castle here!" Lucky said in surprise.

"It's a long story." Rainbow Dash replied amused with the three's looks, "Anyway, I've got things to do. Twilight's waiting for you inside."

Rainbow Dash blitzed off in a streak of rainbows as Celeste and the others went inside. They entered a large empty room. Various books were scattered all around the walls, and a staircase leading to a balcony and large double doors was presented before them. Emerging from behind the stairs was a small, purple dragon. He was quite small and carried with him a broom that he swept left and right.

"Hi, Spike!" Spring called out.

The young dragon immediately perked up and spotted the three with curiosity. He gave a sheepish smile and replied, "Oh… uh… Hi… Uh…" His expression changed to a more confused one, "Who are you and how do you know my name?"

Spring immediately pulled back and blushed, "Oh… uh… you… don't know me… yet… I just happen to know you." She scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Excuse me, but is Twilight Sparkle here?" Celeste asked.

"I am." A voice called from above the staircase. The three looked up and saw a purple alicorn. She had a violet mane with a pink streak. Her main was very straight, not very fancy or elaborate, but very neat. She flapped her wings and floated down closer to the three.

"She looks so young…" Spring muttered to herself.

"Are you Twilight Sparkle?" Celeste asked.

"That's _Princess_ Twilight Sparkle." Spike said, popping up from behind the alicorn.

"Spike!" Twilight exclaimed lightly pushing him aside, "Yes, I am Twilight Sparkle."

"A P-Princess?!" Celeste said in surprise immediately getting down to the floor, "Y-your majesty! I-I had no idea!" Lucky snickered at the gesture while Spring looked on.

A bit astonished by Celeste's behavior, she shyly motioned Celeste to rise. Celeste snapped up, stiff as a board. "Have you ever met a princess before?"

"N-No ma'am!" Celeste replied attentively, "But my grandma said that if I ever met one, I should be on my best behavior."

Amused, Twilight giggled and said, "Did she, now? Well, she's right, but you don't have to be formal with me. Just relax, okay?" Celeste breathed a sigh of relief and calmed down a little, "Now, tell me, what is your name?"

"Celeste." She replied, "And these are my friends Lucky Break and-"

"Spring Adventure." Spring said calmly shaking Twilight's hoof, "It's so good to finally meet you!"

"Yes, Fluttershy told me that you had something to tell me." Twilight replied.

"Actually… two things." Spring said turning to Celeste. "Celeste, why don't you show her?"

Celeste clutched her cloak and said, "B-But I thought you had something important to tell her!"

"That can wait. Your problem comes first." Spring said.

Twilight's curiosity was peaked as she looked at the reluctant unicorn. Celeste gulped and unraveled her cloak. As it dropped to the floor, she spread her wings, dropping her telescope. Twilight was quite surprised at seeing this spectacle and walked closer to Celeste.

"You're an alicorn?" Twilight said in a low, shaky voice.

Celeste quickly folded her wings and looked away in shame. "I… no… not really… I can't explain it."

"Well, you obviously are." Twilight said circling Celeste, studying every inch of her existence, "I mean you have wings and a horn, so it's clear that-" she suddenly froze solid, her mouth hanging open in shock, staring at Celeste's flank. Celeste, seeing that something was wrong, lifted her wings up and said, "What? What's wrong?!"

"T-That cutie mark! How? What?! Where did you get that?!" Twilight said in sheer shock.

"I… It's not… I mean…" Celeste tried to find the words to say.

A very serious look came to Twilight's face as she quickly turned to Spike and said, "Spike, get Celestia, now!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Spike saluted as he dashed up the stairs.

"You three, stay put. We'll get to the bottom of this!" Twilight said sharply.

"Um… am I in trouble?" Celeste asked in a concerned tone.

"You shouldn't be." Spring said, putting her hoof on Celeste's shoulder in assurance, "You haven't done anything wrong."

Lucky leaned up against the wall and said, "Well, this is getting interesting…"

Twilight paced back and forth, lost in thought, for a few seconds before the doors above opened up. From out the doors emerged yet another alicorn. This one was much taller than an average pony. She was white and covered in royal jewelry. Her multi-colored mane and tail flowed like a magical gust. She flapped her large wings and elegantly descended in front of them. Celeste was shocked at seeing her, Spring equally so. Lucky suddenly popped up behind them and shoved them to the floor, "Get down, you two!" he said in urgency, "That's Princess Celestia! The ruler of all of Equestria!"

"T-That's Celestia?!" Spring said.

"I… I know her…" Celeste said gazing at the royal pony.

Celestia approached Celeste and stared down upon her. Celeste immediately lowered her head in respect.

"Are you Celeste?" Celestia asked in a calm voice.

"Y-Yes, your majesty. I am." Celeste said looking up at her.

Celestia smiled and calmly said, "Arise. All of you. There's no need to be formal." The three ponies obeyed and Celestia began examining Celeste, just as Twilight did before. She immediately brought her attention to Celeste's cutie mark and calmly asked, "Celeste… is it?" Celeste nodded in affirmation, "Where did you get that cutie mark."

Celeste panicked "Uh… well… It's not… you see… I didn't know that…"

Celestia raised her hoof calmly to silence Celeste and said, "Be calm. You're not in trouble." She turned around and lifted her wing to show Celeste her flank, "As you can see, my cutie mark matches yours perfectly."

Both Spring and Lucky were both shocked at seeing this, "Hey! You're right!" Lucky remarked, "Celeste, how did you end up with Celestia's cutie mark?"

"Well…" Celeste looked up and Celestia in shame and said, "I thought you would know because… well… _you_ gave it to me, Celestia! And you were the one who turned me into an alicorn!"

There was a dead silence in the room and all eyes turned to Celestia, who was rubbing her chin in intrigue. "Why don't you start from the beginning."

Celeste took a moment to remember all the events that happened to her and told everyone her story. She told them about her village, her grandmother, the ponies who lived there. But she also explained how Celestia appeared before her on a Cliffside and turned her into an alicorn.

"… and that's why I came to see Twilight. I wanted to know if she had answers. And then I saw you… and… well…"

Celestia nodded with a smile and said, "I understand, Celeste. However, there is one problem: I don't recall doing any of those things."

"What?! But, it was you! No other pony looks like you, Princess! I'm sure of it!" Celeste replied frantically.

Celestia raised her hoof to silence Celeste and said, "I believe your story Celeste. I believe you may have seen an alicorn that looks just like me."

"Princess, if she has your cutie mark, she may have your powers, too." Twilight remarked.

"Perhaps so," Celeste replied, "And I think I know a way to find out if she does. But, it will have to wait until tomorrow morning. Celeste, I want you to meet me, then. Until then, I want you to hide your wings and your cutie mark. We don't want ponies to panic." Celeste nodded and put her cloak back on. "Now, was there anything else I can help you with?"

"Hey, Spring, isn't there something super important you want to tell Twilight?" Lucky said, nudging the green earth pony beside him.

"Yeah! I do. But… I need to talk to you in private, Twilight." Spring said.

"Alright, but only if Celestia hears it, too." Twilight said.

"No!" Spring shouted. There was a slight pause and she quickly backed down, "No… only you have to hear it, Twilight."

Twilight looked to Celestia who, in turn, smiled and said, "Go ahead, Spring. I'm not offended. If it's for Twilight's ears only, I'll take my leave." Celestia turned and casually walked out the door, while Spring and Twilight set off for a private room.

But, Twilight turned around and said, "Oh! Before I go, I strongly insist you three stay here in the castle tonight."

"Wh-wha?! Stay here, in a castle?!" Celeste said with excitement, "Is it really alright?!"

Twilight smiled and nodded. "You are guests to Ponyville, which is my hometown. What kind of host would I be otherwise."

"Thank you very much, your highness!" Celeste replied, bowing down.

"Please, call me Twilight. You don't have to be so formal with me." Twilight said, humbled.

"Oh… okay, Twilight… um…" Celeste looked at her telescope lying on the floor, "Is it okay if I put my telescope somewhere?"

"Of course you may. Spike, please take Celeste's telescope to the balcony." Twilight said.

"Right away, Twilight." Spike said hopping down the stairs.

"Twilight!" Spring called out from a separate room.

"Sorry. I'm on my way." Twilight said, trotting in the room and shutting the door behind her.

* * *

Celeste and Lucky trotted out of the castle, closing the doors behind them. Lucky nudged Celeste and said, "So, how about that? We get to meet THE Princess Celestia and we're gonna sleep in a castle. Looks like things are lookin' up, eh?"

"What was it that Spring wanted to tell Twilight, anyway?" Celeste asked.

"I dunno, but it's probably none of our business." Lucky said with a shrug, "Anyway, I think I know what we should do now."

Celeste perked up in curiousity as Lucky motioned her to follow him. He led her to a secluded area outside of town. No ponies were present and the buildings were blurred in the distance. There weren't even a lot of trees around. Lucky looked around and said, "Alright! Nopony seems to be here. Let's get started."

"Started on what?" Celeste asked curiously.

"C'mon, Celeste." Lucky said with a smirk, "How do you intend on having those wings if you ain't gonna use 'em?"

"Wait, you want to teach me to fly?" Celeste asked in surprise.

"Yeah! It'll be fun!" Lucky said ascending into the air above Celeste, "Flying's great! You're really missing out." He extended a hoof to her, "Spread those wings and grab my hoof, okay?"

Celeste looked shyly after the ground contemplating. But she looked at Lucky and spread her wings and grabbed on to his hoof. It shocked her a bit when Lucky started ascending, pulling her with him. Her hooved dangled a few inches from the ground. "Come on, Celeste! Flap those wings!" Lucky said with an encouraging tone, flapping his wings in a slow rhythm, "Do like I'm doing! Up, down, up, down, up, down…"

Trembling a bit, Celeste shakily flapped her wings along with Lucky in long strokes, each flap lifting her up a little higher in the air. "I… I'm doing it!" Celeste said with a surprise.

"Okay, now, this way!" Lucky slowly began to fly backwards, pulling Celeste along. She grabbed Lucky's other hoof in astonishment as she began to fly forward. "It's okay! You're learning fast. Just keep your eyes on me and don't look down, alright?"

Celeste nodded as the two floated around in the air. Celeste kept her eyes on Lucky, who was cheering her on all along. The two continued to dance above the ground for a few minutes as Celeste held herself steady to keep her balance. "Now, close your eyes, Celeste. Feel the air below your wings. Let it guide you." Lucky said calmly.

Celeste obeyed and closed her eyes. She continued to flap her wings, feeling the wind beneath her. She completely forgot about her hooves clinging on to Lucky. The wind felt very cool as it brushed against her side, she felt the follicles on her coat breeze along with it, with her cloak flapping against her back.

"Pretty good, Celeste! I guess you don't need me anymore!" She heard Lucky's voice call to her.

In that moment, she opened her eyes and saw Lucky was nowhere to be found. She frantically looked for him and saw he had rested on a nearby cloud.

"I… I'm flying! I'm flying!" Celeste said in excitement.

"You're a natural, Celeste. But I guess it's because your wings came in already developed." Lucky said, hopping of the cloud and flying beside her. "Now, let's try some tricks. Follow me, okay?"

Lucky flew ahead with Celeste following suit. He started off slow, making a few easy turns, left to right, up and down, Celeste repeating his patterns. Over time, they started to fly faster and faster, with more complex tricks like loops and rolls. Compared to Lucky, her attempts were clumsy and crooked. Her first loop had her almost fall half-way up. Thankfully, Lucky caught her and got her back on track. Every time she showed signs of faltering, Lucky would fly next to her and adjust her position. He was very patient and calm the whole time, he seemed to be enjoying himself. Celeste smiled as she continued her training, showing more confidence as time went on.

They continued for several hours before finally landing on the grass beneath them. Celeste plopped her back into the grass, wings spread, breathing heavily from exhaustion. Lucky landed right in front of her looking down at her.

"It's quite a workout for your first time, huh?" Lucky said.

Celeste nodded and said, "You're right, Lucky. Flying is fun. We should practice again sometime."

"Absolutely! We'll try the more complicated stuff next time." Lucky said sitting down right next to Celeste.

Celeste stared into the sky for a few minutes, imagining herself flying up there, promising herself to touch the clouds that soared about her. She looked over to Lucky who was looking right at her, prompting her to ask "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Lucky said jerking his head away, "You've never really thought much of flying before, have you?"

"Well, I was a unicorn. I never expected to." Celeste replied, "Why want what you can't have?"

"I dunno." Lucky said scratching his chin, "There are ways for non-pegasi to fly. Contraptions and the like."

"Lucky, do you think I'm gonna stay this way forever? Am I going to keep being an alicorn for the rest of my life?" Celeste asked looking up at the sky.

"What's wrong with being an alicorn? You can use magic_ and_ you can fly. You get the best of all worlds!" Lucky responded.

"But it's not me! I'm supposed to be a unicorn!" Celeste said sternly, propping herself up, "Look at my cutie mark, Lucky, this isn't mine, it's Celestia's! Why did I even become an alicorn in the first place?"

"Celeste," Lucky responded in a sympathetic tone, "You can't just take things with a grain of salt. I have a feeling there's a reason you became an alicorn. That you were meant to be one."

"But why?"

"I dunno. Guess we'll just have to find out." Lucky said standing up, "Besides, finding out is part of the fun." He offered Celeste a hoof and helped her on her hooves, "Let's head back to the castle. I think we've done enough for today."

Celeste nodded and the two made their way back to the castle.

* * *

The night was quiet in the castle. Celeste had to share a room with Spring while Lucky was sent to stay in a separate room not too far away. She slept quite soundly after all the flying she did that day.

Spring stood behind the bed Celeste slept in and nudged her.

"Celeste, wake up!" Spring said with urgency.

Celeste moaned and rolled away from her.

"Honestly, how can an alicorn be this lazy? Wake up!" Spring said shoving her with enough force to just about push Celeste out of bed. Celeste flailed about in shock and jumped out from the bed to prevent herself from losing balance.

"Wha-what time is it?" Celeste asked looking outside the window. She saw that the sun hadn't even come out yet.

"Celestia wants to see you outside. C'mon, you shouldn't keep her waiting!" Spring said with impatience.

Eyes tired and head heavily drooping to the ground, Celeste followed Spring outside mumbling to herself. Spring led her outside. As the two walked outside the town limits of Ponyville, Celeste started to wake up, wondering why the sun was taking so long to rise. Finally, She saw Celestia along with Twilight Sparkle waiting for them atop a hill outside of town.

"Good morning, Celeste. Glad you could join us." Twilight said with a smile.

Celeste yawned and rubbed her eye, "Good morning, Princess."

Celestia nodded in greeting to Celeste and said, "Celeste, do you know why I called you out here?" Celeste answered by shaking her head. "Every morning, I use my magic raise the sun to start the day. It is one of my duties as ruler of Equestria. But today, I won't be doing it. Celeste, I want you to do it."

"Me?! Raise the sun?!" Celeste said in shock fully waking up, she turned to look at the sky, "But… that's impossible."

"Difficult, yes, but not impossible. I can vouch for that." Celestia replied.

"It's okay if you can't do it, Celeste. Celestia will do it for you if you can't." Twilight said reassuringly, "All we ask is for you to try."

Celeste gulped and nodded, "Okay… I'll try."

"Now, concentrate." Celestia instructed, "Focus on all your magic on the sun. It's no different from lifting any other object with magic."

Celeste did as she said and closed her eyes, her horn lighting a cyan glow. She could feel the sun far away from the planet, it felt so close to her, she could mentally touch it. She could think of nothing else, just a bright, yellow ball of light against a dark canvas. Then, as if grabbing the sun with her own hooves, she used the magic to slowly lift the sun. A queer feeling passed through her body as this happened, almost as if she wasn't alone in touching the sun; it was as if another was lifting it with her. The sky was painted a light purple hue as the sun rose from the horizon. Twilight, Celestia, and Spring stood in awe watching the spectacle. At last, Celeste let go of the sun and opened her eyes, shocked to see her accomplishment.

"I… I don't believe it, Celestia!" Twilight said in shock, "She really does have your powers! What do you make of this?"

Celestia furrowed her brow in disappointment as she rubbed her chin in contemplation, "I… I thought this would bring light to the issue, but… this just raised more questions…"

There was a brief silence, but it was broken when Spike ran up the hill calling for Twilight. In his claws, a letter was clutched.

"Excuse me, I need to see what Spike needs." Twilight said. She trotted away to speak to Spike with Spring following after her.

Celeste approached Celestia who continued contemplating. "It doesn't make sense." The Princess said to herself, "How do you have my power?"

"Celestia…" Celeste spoke up, "What does it feel like when you raise the sun?"

"As I said before, it's no different than lifting any other object with magic." Celestia responded with a smile.

"Did you happen to help me lift the sun?" Celeste asked.

An astounded look came to Celestia's face as she said "Why would I do that? That would defeat the purpose of what we were trying to find. Why do you ask?"

"When I lifted the sun, it felt like… somepony was helping me. Somepony close by."

"Hm… odd… very odd." Celestia rubbed her chin in thought, "It may seem that it was Twilight, but I sincerely doubt it… for the same reason I didn't help you." She spotted Twilight slowly walking back to the two with Spring, "Let us speak of this later."

When Twilight approached with the letter floating above her, she had a look of urgency on her face. Spring stood next to her, oddly casual compared to Twilight. Silently, she handed the letter over to Celestia, who opened the letter to read it. As her eyes shifted from left to right, a concerned face slowly turned to fear. She stood breathless at the letter and tucked it between her wing. She quickly got her wits about her and stoically said, "Twilight, pack your things. We must go to Canterlot immediately!"

"Yes, Princess." Twilight responded, she turned to Spring and said in a lowered voice, "You were right…"

Spring nodded and the two left for Ponyville. Celestia started after them, but stopped and said "Celeste, I want you to accompany us."

"Why? What's going on?" Celeste asked curiously.

Celestia was silent for a brief moment, trying to collect herself, then turned to Celeste and said, "We're being invaded."

To be continued…


End file.
